Jim Elliot: A Life Shaped by Surrender July 11, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” By the time we encounter the story of Jim Elliot, we are no longer in...
No Going Back: Living Openly as a Christian Convert from YemenJune 24, 2026 — Amid economic collapse, widespread hunger, and frequent outbreaks of violence, Yemen is not an easy place for anyone to live these days. Much of the country is beyond the government’s...
How Long, O Lord? The Cry of the Martyrs Before the Throne of God May 29, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” As we reach the final biblical foundation of this series, the Book of Revelation brings us...
Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses: Faith That Endures Suffering May 22, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” Throughout this series, we have seen a pattern emerge across the pages of Scripture. From Abel, whose blood...
Learning to Suffer Like Peter: Rejoicing When You Share in Christ’s Sufferings May 15, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” If Paul teaches us that suffering is often the mark of authentic gospel ministry, Peter...
Paul: The Marks of a True Apostle — When Suffering Becomes the Proof of Authentic MinistryMay 8, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” Few figures in the history of the church embodied the cost of following Jesus as clearly...
Three Years Later, Manipur Christians Still on EdgeMay 4, 2026 — There’s no end in sight to the ethnic conflict that began three years ago between the Christian-majority Kuki-Zo and Hindu Meitei communities in Manipur, India. Even though mass riots have...
When Persecution Fuels the Mission: The Early Church Discovers the Cost of Following JesusMay 4, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” The Book of Acts tells the story of the early church as it began to...
The Cross-Shaped Life: The Cost of Following JesusApril 17, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” The turning point of the gospel story occurs when Jesus begins to explain to his disciples that his mission...
The Suffering Servant: God’s Redemptive Strategy for a Broken World April 10, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” Throughout Scripture, we encounter a recurring pattern: the righteous suffer while the wicked often seem to prosper. From...
Job and the Mystery of Suffering: When the Righteous Suffer Without Explanation April 2, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” If the blood of the martyrs still speaks, are we listening? For many believers, the question...
The Prophetic Pattern: Why God’s Messengers Were PersecutedMarch 27, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” When we read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, we encounter the...
The First Martyr: What Cain and Abel Teach Us About PersecutionMarch 20, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” The story of persecution in the Bible begins not in a battlefield or a courtroom,...
Why the Persecuted Church May Be the Most Faithful Church in the World March 14, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken." Across the world today, millions of Christians gather to worship Christ under circumstances that most...
Why Some Iranians Dance During WarMarch 12, 2026 — By Dr. Nathan Rostampour, Ekklesia Mission president and ICC board member Many of my friends have asked me, “Why are some Iranians dancing while war is unfolding in their country?”...
In the Shadow of the CrossMarch 5, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member In much of the Western world, believers are not imprisoned for their faith. They are not dragged before courts or threatened with violence. Yet...
